


Over the Fairy Lights

by Arithanas



Category: Call the Midwife
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-26
Updated: 2015-04-26
Packaged: 2018-03-25 20:18:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3823414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arithanas/pseuds/Arithanas
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You can find beauty everywhere, but only love can make it memorable.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Over the Fairy Lights

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bookgazing](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bookgazing/gifts).



> _Mmm, my little darling_  
>  _Won't you dance with me?_  
>  _Oh, hold me tighter, tighter and tighter_  
>  _Much tighter while the rhythm sways_  
>  ~ “Dance with me” Ben E. King

Two girls steering around the East End as the night fall was a particularly harmless and amusing image; knees going up and down under flapping nurse skirts with the wind caressing long hair backwards. Both of the decrepit Nonnatus House’s bicycles rode dependably on that unplanned joy ride Delia suggested and Patsy loved every minute of it since Delia marvelling at every tiny detail of the poor houses; to her eyes, each bit of colour among the decay was a treasure, a postcard from a hopeful tomorrow.

Patience Mount loved Delia for her constant refusal to concede that some causes are not there to be won. Delia was a beacon of hope in the bleakness of Patsy’s life.

“Pats!” Delia called and signalled the place where the old match factory used to be.

It was not the first time Patsy witnessed the odd effect. The lot has been polluted with sulphur and phosphor for decades and, when the weather was right, the soft decline to the river brightened with ghostly light. For a brief second, Patsy thought of pulling Delia away from that place of pain where so many women worked until the phossy jaw took their lives, but then she saw Delia’s face, she was gazing in awe like a wee kid admiring the first snowflakes of the winter and she couldn’t force herself to destroy the fascinated glimpse of Delia’s eyes as she alighted the bicycle.

“Crumbs, the glow on that lot don’t show every day.”

“Why does it happen on that vacant lot?”

“I was told that it used to be a factory there,” Patsy was purposefully vague, Delia was a nurse too and clever to cap it. She would know immediately the high price of her delight. “A very old one, so they say.”

Delia leaned on the bridge and watched how the light phosphoresce dance as the condensed humidity formed drops on the wrecked grass. Patsy dismounted her vehicle and let it the wheels roll by her side

“I never saw marshfire in any city.”

“It is not marshfire; if you approach it won’t disappear.”

Delia laughed and decided to abandon her borrowed bicycle and ran for the opportunity. The vehicle fell to the ground and its metal clacking mixed with her joyful titter. Patsy shook her head and put both of them against the bridge, there was no need to misuse her work tool, and followed Delia with slower pace. She wanted to enjoy her friend’s mirth since it seemed more authentic than hers.  Delia trod unto the phosphorescent field; her sensible shoes caught some of the glimmering drops and turned them into enchanted slippers of a fairy tale. It was appropriate since a young ambulance worker became a dark haired princess dancing on the fairy light.

“Come!” Delia called and extended her hand toward her much beloved friend.

Not for the first time Patsy doubted to take her hand and felt the sudden pang of regret and rebellion against everything, her mind argued that the bicycles would be unwatched, but in the same sentence it acknowledge that their uniforms were a safeguard wherever they were. They were angels of charity, merciful women who everyone respected. Nothing would happen to the two-wheelers in this isolated place. 

No one would notice them in this place of pain. 

A soft touch greeted her resolution and Patsy held to Delia’s hand with the soft grip only a tender heart could provide. Those fingers were warm inside Patsy’s cold hand and she felt how the warmth spread to her arms, to her chest, to the inside of her thighs.

“Let’s dance, Patsy.”

“We are in the open.”

“We are alone, in this wonderful light…”

“There is no music,” Patsy’s resolution was wavering the more she shared Delia’s warmth.

“We don’t need it.”

If there was a thing Patsy never contemplated in her young life was to dance without music, hand in hand with a woman who gave her heart a steady and brisk rhythm, like that of a newborn. Patsy let go those fingers and moved her hand towards Delia’s shoulder and her arm approached Delia’s waist. Delia smiled and rolled to Patsy’s open arms. They linked together and it was so easy, so effortlessly that they gave each other a befuddled smile before they started a slow dance with the wrong foot. Delia laughed, Patsy giggled her confusion. The circumstances were so silly, but so appropriate since this dance was never been witnessed by this river, by this raising moon and by this magical light. 

“I’ll let you lead.”

“You should do it, Patsy.”

“You are more skilled.”

“You are taller.” 

“Right, you will spin better under my arm.”

They smiled to each other and, following the calm murmur of the river, Patsy led a demure, slow series of spins and quick engages, enjoying the way her uniform clad body reacted to her gentle lead.

“We should dance properly one day…”

“And being immediately flooded with work when the polite company fainted, or worst, in masse.”

“A girl must make a living somehow.”

Patsy guffawed at this answer before holding Delia’s back to help her lean for a dip that took Delia by surprise and enhanced her pleasure.

“Someday, I’ll tell you of this idea of mine which will allow us to dance to our hearts content.”

“We need a brand new world for that,” Patsy help her to her feet and hold her hands; she was not ready to let her go.

“No, just a way to forbid this one to interfere with us.”

“If you find a way, I could kiss you.”

“Get your lips ready, because my mum raised a clever girl and I have it almost to the dot.”

Delia leaned towards Patsy when she spoke those words. Patsy’s heart hastily beat inside her chest at the idea of holding hands with Delia forever, her blood rushed into her ears and drowned the annoying dint of this unfair world who tried to pull them apart and lend her courage to lean forward, covering Delia’s lips with hers, just a quick peek before Delia could feel them, or so she thought.

“Do it again,” Delia said with a smile, “but now do it like you mean it.”

There is no end to what Patsy would do for Delia. There was nothing she could not achieve with Delia’s support. Patsy drew breath and draped her arms around Delia’s shoulders, gazing deeply into her eyes, lacking the words to express how much wanted to place her love to her feet. Delia’s arms surrounded Patsy’s waist, encouraging her to be brave. 

In a heartbeat, their lips touched again and it was perfect.

 


End file.
